Ask HN: Being heavily recruited by First party tech firms | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Being heavily recruited by First party tech firms

I have no idea how normal this is outside the Bay Area. Maybe it's quite common. I am not in NorCal. I'm being heavily recruited by internal recruiters from all the top tier tech firms, top startups, and a few top finance firms. This is all unsolicited, without any major connections, and from internal recruiters that work at the firm they are hiring for. I am probably the best at what I do or within the top handful in the world. I don't have any particular negative factors pushing me away from my current position. My current job situation is quite positive. What's your thought process when approached by such firms/people when you don't have a particular incentive to leave your current job? Do you talk to them? Do you go for the interview?

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Talk to them, and get informational interviews with hiring managers. This is an opportunity to learn what/how they are doing, if it's related to your field. And to make some connections.

At the least, connect with them on linkedin. Those will come very handy when you're actually looking.

[me: I run http://InterviewKickstart.com in NorCal. It's very common to be heavily recruited by first-party tech firms over here, both big and small]

Does that mean I tell them I'm not really looking to move, but request a chat with a hiring manager to better understand the field / their org / projects / etc. rather than a formal interview?

Keep it non-committal. "I am happy where I am, and not in a rush, but it would be nice to talk to the HM. Maybe I get interested in what you guys are doing?"

You always talk to them. Whether you do more depends on the situation.

Do you have a skill with a short lifespan, or is it a more grounded skill that will last forever? If it's a short lifetime, take the cash, if not, optimize for quality of life and stability.

What area is this skill in?

I think the skill will last forever, because of the mathematical barrier to entry (which will limit the supply of the skill). However, the field is hot right now and I'm not sure if it'll get hotter or less hot in the short term. Either way I'm not too concerned about cashing out right now.

Okay, so it's not the Javascript $FOO of the week then, good.

As long as it's not overly hot like machine learning, talk to your suitors. If you think you'll get a durable increase in quality of life/freedom/stability then consider a move.

I would call stability being able to say "Yes, this company and my job are likely to be here 10 years from now.", even if you don't intend to stay for 10 years. Try not to pull an icarus

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